-WM= ILMR*ED 353 851 FL 800 409

AUTHOR Vavricka, D. KarenTITLE Tom Green County Library Literacy Project. Final

Performance Report.INSTITUTION Tom Green County Library System, San Angelo, TX.SPONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED),

Washington, DC. Center for Libraries and EducationImprovement.

PUB DATECONTRACT R167A80440NOTE 21p.PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Adult Basic Education; Advertising; Blacks; Budgets;

Childrens Literature; Day Care; *English (SecondLanguage); Expenditures; Hispanic Americans;Immigrants; Instructional Materials; LibraryAcquisition; *Library Services; *Literacy Education;Mass Media; Multisensory Learning; *OutreachPrograms; Program Development; Program Evaluation;Public Relations; Student Recruitment; TeacherEducators; Transportation; *Tutorial Programs;Volunteers; Volunteer Training

IDENTIFIERS *Tom Green County Library System TX

ABSTRACTThe final report of the Tom Green Country Library

System (Texas) literacy project details progress toward achievementof 11 objectives. Objectives of the literacy outreach program wereto: (1) increase Hispanic enrollment; (2) increase Black enrollment;(3) provide free child care for 4 students to attend 50 tutoringsessions; (4) provide transportation for 5 students to attend 50sessions; (5) secure 8 additional tutoring sites; (6) increase numberand type of circulating literacy and adult new reader materials by75%; (7) provide student workbooks and teacher manuals free toprogram participants; (8) train 36 tutors; (9) train 12 tutors intechniques for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL); (10)train two additional tutor trainers, one in basic literacy and one inESL; and (11) certify a senior tutor and tutor trainer in themultisensory teaching approach. Most of the objectives were met orexceeded, and progress is reported on all. Additional effortsreported include extensive project publicity activities, recruitment_of new _and active board members, a. children's book exchange, andsolicitation of in-kind donations to the program. Conventional andinnovative publicity efforts included handouts of buttons, balloons,

milk-carton advertising. The project budget is appended. (MSE)

and bookmarks at a book sale, flyers distributed through retailersand a local education association, mass media campaigns, and

(Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)

************************************************************** * * * * * *:t * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * **

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original document.

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TOM GREEN COUNTY LIBRARY LITERACY PROJECT.

FINAL PERFORMANCE REPORT.

Tom Green County Library113 West Beauregard

San Angelo, Texas 76903

Report prepared by: D. Karen Vavricka(915) 655-7321

Grant Number: R167A80440

Grant Amount: $24,106.00

Actual Amount Expended: $24,001.76

BEST COPY AURAE

U.S. DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATIONOffice of EducattonelReseerch and improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

CtIms document has been (produced asreceived from the person or orpanarthonOrtoindttriO

0 Mmor chimp. haw* awn made to armor,reproduct,on welds

Pants of sea or opinions stilted m this dcc u-mint do not nCOSSanly rt:truant offictelOERI Daimon or policy

The Tom Green County Library System began the

literacy project year (October, 1988 through September,

1989) with the hiring of a literacy coordinator for.the

library. Sue Espe was employed to coordinate and devel-

op literacy activities as stated in the grant's objec-

tives. She also served as liaison between the library

and the Tom Green County Adult Literacy Council, with

whose coordinator she worked on a daily basis.

Ms. Espe resigned at the end of June and since

there was no one knowledgeable about the literacy pro-

gram who wanted just a 3-month job, the Project Direc-

tor, Karen Vavricka, took over the coordinator's duties.

This project had 11 objectives, with the first two

focusing on the recruitment of students.

OBJECTIVE #1: To increase the number of Hispanic

students from 27 to 41. RESULT: 66 Hispanics were

recruited to the literacy program.

OBJECTIVE #2: To increase the number of black

students from 8 to 16. RESULT: Only 6 new black stu-

dents were recruited.

In addition to these two groups, 20 Asians and 32

additional Caucasians were recruited, for a total of 124

new students.

We obviously did not gain our objective with regard

to increasing the number of blacks in our program. The

literacy coordinator contacted black groups in the

spring and, while there was an interest in promoting

literacy, no definite plans were made.

However, those contacts did result in two new

enthusiastic black literacy council board members. One

is writing a play about blacks and literacy to be pre-

sented to a number !7+f groups during Black History Month

this coming February. This idea was a direct result of

the library's report to the board concerning the diffi-

culties of recruiting in the black community. All board

members are continuing to work toward full minority

participation in the literacy program.

As part of the campaign to attract new students, as

well as new tutors and other volunteers, the literacy

coordinator and others made presentations to 34 various

types of groups throughout the year. At these meetings

over 900 brochures, provided by the Junior League and

the San Angelo Standard Times, were distributed explain-

ing the literacy council's program. Over 1,000 bro-

chures and bookmarks were handed out at the literacy

council's booth at 12 different functions during the

year.

In September, buttons, balloons, and bookmarks,

bearing the words "Get a Running Start. Learn to Read,"

were given out at the "Project Read" book sale and other

programs. The 1,000 buttons were paid for with grant

funds. An 8 foot long bright yellow banner with 9 inch

2

high black letters, purchased as promotional supplies,

was very effective in drawing attention to the literacy

council's booth and to its book sale in the local mall.

In January, the local unit of the Texas State

Teachers Association distributed 10,000 flyers on lit-

eracy, written in English and Spanish, to 18 elementary

schools for each child to take home. Five hundred

copies of a second flyer, printed using grant funds,

were distributed in June and July through Harry's Food

Store, Food Emporium, Winn-Dixie grocery stores, the

Social Security office and the city-county health de-

partment.

The literacy coordinator, during March, contacted

local churches and received permission from 18 of them

to run brief summaries concerning the literacy program

in their church bulletins.

Seventy-five posters, designed and printed by the

San Angelo Standard Tizes at no cost to the library,

were posted at churches, hospitals, welfare agencies,

government offices, libraries, public and private

schools, restaurants, and other businesses.

The San Angelo Standard Times has always been very

supportive of the literacy efforts in the community and,

in addition to the 20 brief articles that ran during the

year, it also published a lengthy article on literacy

program graduate, Jessie Valenzuela, and another one on

3

of

Ann Loyd, one of the volunteer tutor trainers. Free

literacy ads were run in the classified section at

various times throughout the year. The newspaper was a

co-sponsor of "Project Read", a book sale that benefited

the literacy council, and ran numerous ads promoting

Project Read and the council during National Literacy

Month.

The local radio and television stations were also

enthusiastic supporters of literacy, airing and some-

times writing regular public service spots. In May, a

local high school speech class, at the request of the

literacy coordinator, wrote and performed a rap on

literacy, which cleverly included the telephone number

of the council. This was taped for both radio and

television and aired numerous times May through July.

In February, the coordinator had a promotional idea involv-

ing a local dairy and that idea became a national cam-

paign. Ms. Espe asked Gandy's dairy to run a public

service side panel on their milk cartons focusing on

National Literacy Month and educating the public on the

problems of illiteracy. Gandy's referred her to Inter-

national Paper in Memphis, Tennessee, which produces

milk cartons for all over the United States and they

agreed to work with her on producing such a side panel.

Johnson's advertising, a local agency, volunteered to do

the art work, and Laubach Literacy Action allowed them

4

to include the national hotline "800" number. Dairies

and literacy groups across the country were contacted to

see if they wished to participate. In Texas, Gandy's

Dairies and H.E.B. Food Stores ran the side panels on

literacy during September, 1989 (a copy of the panel is

included in the appended material). This whole effort

brought in businesses Rnd other volunteers who had not

previously participated in the literacy movement.

Another idea from the literacy coordinator was a

children's book swap to promote reading and literacy,

especially among disadvantaged children. She began the

planning in June, locating a place to have it and con-

tacting local merchants and others who might wish to

contribute to it. A theme was selected (dinosaurs) and

games and art activities were designed for it. Nearly

everything was in order before the coordinator left at

the end of June.

On Saturday, November 11, the Dino-Mite Book Swap

for children ages 3 through 13, co-sponsored by the

library, the literacy council and the YMCA, was held at

the downtown "Y", located near a low-income residential

area. Each of the 97 children who attended (along with

70 adults, mostly parents) received a library book bag

containing bookmarks, food coupons and game tokens, and

literacy and library promotional flyers. As they re-

ceived their bags, each child's hand was stamped with a

5

...

dinosaur stamp. A total of 14 literacy and library

volunteers gave away door prizes throughout the two-hour

event and conducted the games and art activities. The

library's 6 foot papier-mache dinosaur, 'Joyce," made

quite an impression on the children who had not seen her

at the library.

The following local businesses donated books and

other give-away materials: K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target,

Shakey's Pizza, Pizza Hut, Paproni's Pizza, Dairy Queen,

and Chick-Fil-A. These book distributors donated books:

Mumford Library Book Sales, Inc, Plano, Texas; Quality

Books, Inc, Lake Bluff, Illinois; and Star Book Sales,

Fort Worth, Texas. Several publishers also donated

books: Scholastic Inc, Random House, and Harper & Row.

In all, 195 volunteers, donors, parents and children

were involved in the book swap, and it was so successful

that we plan to have one again next August. Again, the

contacts made by the literacy coordinator helped to

spread the word about the library and the literacy

program.

OBJECTIVE #3: To provide free child care for

students to attend 50 tutoring sessions. RESULT: 3

students, all female, left a total of 6 children at care

facilities, to attend 62 tutoring sessions.

When a prospective student inquired about the

literacy program, she or he was informed of the free

5

8

child care available. One student attended long enough

to graduate from the program. If the nurseries were

closed, the children were kept at the literacy council

office.

An amount of $1,600 was allotted for child care but

only $373.25 was spent because the literacy coordinator

was able to locate Mother's Day Out programs in churches

convenient to tutoring sites. They charged considerably

less than regular day care facilities and allowed for

drop-ins more easily. One day care, the Tot Stop, did

allow for literacy student drop-ins.

OBJECTIVE #4: To provide free transportation for 5

students to attend 50 sessions. RESULTS: 5 students

without their own transportation were able to attend 78

sessions.

Prospective students were told about the free

transportation when they inquired about the program.

The original plan was to pay mileage to volunteers

to transport the students but we soon discovered that

such volunteers are almost impossible to recruit. Thus,

_four of the students were given bus tickets, and the

literacy coordinator and the project director took turns

transporting one mother and her three children to day

care and tutoring sites for several sessions.

The amount budgeted for this objective was $135;

the amount spent, $49.50.

7

OBJECTIVE #5: To secure 8 additional tutoring

sites. RESULT: 15 new sites were added.

Those offering new sites included: Sterling COunty

Public Library in Sterling City, West Texas Lighthouse

for the Blind, Concho Career Institute, Rio Concho Manor

(a retirement home), St. Mark's Presbyterian Church,

Meadows-Fisher-Cleere Building (insurance company),

Concho Valley Center for Human Advancement, Concho

Valley Implements (a retail store), Church of God,

Goodfellow Air Force Base, St. John's Hospital Guest

House, Southside Recreation Center, Circle K District

Office (business), Edison Junior High and Bradford

Elementary School.

The literacy coordinator made telephone calls to

locate some of the sites while several tutors and stu-

dents found their own meeting places.

OBJECTIVE #6: To increase the number and type of

circulating literacy and adult new reader materials

(including nonprint) from 446 items to 780 items, or a

75% increase. RESULT: The total number of items now

held is 1,249, an increase of 180%.

We were able to purchase many more library materi-

als and student supplies than originally planned because

of the funds not used in salary, fringe benefits, trav-

el, and child care.

Books were added to the Literacy Shelf in the

8

following areas: ESL, citizenship, employment, survival

skills, mathematics, spelling, pre-GED, and supplemen-

tary tutoring methods. The variety of adult new readers

was expanded to include, not only more fiction, but also

history and biography. Twenty-six cassettes were also

added to the collection.

An attractive display shelf for adult new readers

(the "Potluck Shelf") was purchased and located near the

library entrance in the new book area.

Special supplies were purchased for tutors to use

with students: twenty-five 9" x 12" and 12" x 13"

marker boards, pens and erasers; cardboard clocks;

laminated U.S. maps; and 3 reams of manuscript paper.

Six posters of alphabets and numbers were bought for the

literacy meeting rooms at the library. A kit of materi-

als for use with the learning disabled was purchased

from the James Phillips Williams Memorial Foundation for

use by tutors as needed.

When a student signs up with the literacy program,

he or she is evaluated by a volunteer Student Assessor

who is a certified educational diagnostician with a

Master in Education. At her request, part of the supply

money was used to buy the Laubach Diagnostic Inventory

Student Reading Profiles. This profile is invaluable to

the tutor for indicating the student's reading skills

and strengths and weaknesses.

9

11.

OBJECTIVE #7: To provide student workbooks and

teachers manuals free to program participants. RESULT:

1,017 workbooks and manuals were purchased and a total

of 1,242 were distributed to tutors and students.

The additional books were purchased with the lit-

eracy council's Junior League grant and with the li-

brary's Big Country Library System grant.

OBJECTIVE #6: To train 36 tutors in 3 Laubach

Basic Literacy workshops. RESULT: 94 tutors were

trained in 4 Laubach workshops.

No charges were made to participants in these

workshops. The trainers are volunteers, and the litera-

cy council and the library provided many of the sup-

plies, all of the copying, the labor and 3 of the meet-

ing sites. The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd

offered the fourth meeting space. Supplies and refresh-

ments were provided by GTE, Standard Times, Retired

Senior Volunteer Program, Talley Press, DeCoty Coffee

Company, Halfmann's Cake Cottage, Town & Country Food

Stores, Winn-Dixie Supermarket, and Holsum Bakery.

OBJECTIVE #9: To train 12 tutors in 1 Laubach

English for Speakers of Other Languages workshop.

RESULT: 69 tutors were trained at 3 workshops.

Again, no charge was made to the participants.

The Big Country Library System in Abilene, of which

Tom Green County Library is a member, sponsored one

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f

1

workshop, with assistance from the Taylor County Adult

Literacy Council (also in Abilene). The local literacy

council sponsored the second workshop, providing an

outsiue trainer, copies and supplies. The third work-

shop was paid for with a Workplace Literacy Grant from

the local United Way to the literacy council. Ethicon,

Inc. paid for the workshop site, lunch, refreshments,

and copies.

Besides the donors mentioned above, refreshments

were also donated by Furr's Food Stores and Beta Sigma

Phi; supplies by G.T.E., Western Printing, Retired

Senior Volunteers Program, and the Standard Times.

Of the $350 allotted for training supplies, only

$169.40 was spent. The large marking board was pur-

chased using other funds, and the Laubach training video

was bought at a discount. Several charts and posters

were laminated for use in the classroom and at work-

shops.

OBJECTIVE #10: To train 2 additional tutor train-

ers (one in Basic Literacy and one in ESOL) and a super-

vising tutor trainer. RESULT: Frankie-Beth Nelson is

now a supervising tutor trainer. Ann Loyd is a certi-

fied trainer and an apprentice supervising trainer in

Basic Literacy, and Carol Weaver is a certified trainer

and an apprentice supervising trainer in ESOL.

An amount of $400 was allotted for the supervising

tutor trainer to attend the annual conference but she

became seriously ill and was unable to attend. An

additional $800 was allotted for 2 tutor trainers also

to attend but only Carol Weaver was able to go, so the

final amount spent was $414.16.

OBJECTIVE #11: To certify one senior tutor and one

tutor trainer in the Multisensory Teaching Approach

course. RESULT: Two tutors were certified in the MTA

method for working with the learning disabled.

The James Phillips Williams Memorial Foundation

sponsored the two-week course in June. Unfortunately,

one of the weeks coincided with the annual Laubach

National conference and the tutor trainer who wished to

be certified in MTA needed to attend that. Several

senior tutors also had conflicting plans.

Of the two volunteer tutors who were able to at-

tend, one is using the information to teach her learning

disabled student. Both have served as resources for

other tutors whose students seem to have learning diffi-

culties. Special supplies for use with the learning

disabled are available for check-out by tutors.

The amount budgeted for this training was $1,000.

The costs increased by $75 per person so the amount

expended was $1,150.

The Tom Green County Library System accomplished 10

12

of the 11 objectives of its federal literacy grant

project, directly serving 314 people, not including the

167 children and parents who attended the book swap.

Instrumental in this achievement were the library's

literacy coordinator, the literacy council's coordina-

tor, and the library's associate director, who also

served as Project Director.

A total of $24,001.76 was spent during the project

year, or $76.44 per person directly served. The follow-

ing page is a ledger sheet comparing the proposed and

actual expenditures by budget category. When the lit-

eracy coordinator resigned after nine months in the

project instead of twelve, nearly $4,400 was left in the

Personnel categories to be reallocated to other approved

categories. Monies were also left in promotional and

training supplies, travel for tutor trainers, child

care, and transportation. Most of the unused funding

was moved into library materials and special materials

acquired for student use.

TOM GREEN COUNTY LIBRARYADULT _LITER/4M tRANT, 19881.489

0105 Personnel - Salary

0211 Personnel - Benefits

0428 Personnel - Travel

0676 Supplies

Promotion

Materials Acquis._

Training

0435 Library Materials

0481 Miscellaneous

Promotion - Printing

Telephone Installation .

Travel for 2 tutor. trainers 1 ._

,

Travel for superv. tutor tr.

Multisensory training

Child Care

Transportation .

(Proposed in Proposed (Actual in Actual

Subcategories) Budget Subcategories) Budget

_

1321 boo

3 Via oo

40000

6900

:

1023001

2.33122

..0

131q11935000 11855

. :16400 q 1 144-

35000 169.40

200000 1b3131

4-211500 2414320125000 4321q10000 (.35010000 44.14.14

440000 -0-100000 1 1 50 00140000 313.25

'13500 44q50

2*1 O 6oo 24-00 1 '76

Totals

Balance of 104.24

Returned to D.O.E. in 11-89 .

I

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This federal project has had an immeasurable impact

on the ongoing literacy program of the library and the

literacy council.

The literacy coordinator was an invaluable addition

to the overall program, working with the council and the

library staff on a daily basis and helping to generate

and follow through on ideas to promote the cause of

literacy.

Expanding the literacy program to include ESOL

training had become a necessity and was made possible by

the grant, which provided funds for the purchase of

student workbooks and teacher manuals.

Having 3 qualified tutor trainers and 5 apprentice

trainers locally, both in Basic Literacy and ESOL, has

greatly lowered the costs of tutor workshops and has

allowed more flexibility in the scheduling of workshops.

Our volunteer trainers have, in the past year, also been

able to help several small towns in this area begin

their own literacy programs.

Funds from the federal grant enabled the library,

struggling with its barely adequate book budget, to

greatly expand the number and variety of literacy mate-

rials available for tutors and students.

The provision to students of free child care and

free bus tickets, paid for by the grant, was so effec-

tive in removing those particular barriers for some

15

.17

students that the literacy council board voted to con-

tinue the program and is now underwriting the costs.

The Tom Green County Library System and the Tom'

Green County Adult Literacy Council will continue to

work together in developing and maintaining a literacy

program that will be responsive to the needs of the

adults in our community. This federal grant project has

already had a great and positive impact on hundreds of

lives and the domino effect is sure to be felt in every

facet of life in San Angelo and Tom Green County.

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APPENDIX

15

111111=7-

` TOM GREEN COUNTYPOSITION DESCRIPTION

EMPLOYEE N: n pencil)

`,...

DESCRIPTIVE POSITION

Literacy CooruinatorPOSITION NUMBER

:40kfillag- . 1:4.0404.....;KIMAIG1MRE 'DOT TITIE DOT NUMBER

Librarian I - 9

INTRODUCTION:

Under direction of Grant Project Director, coordinates and develops literacy activities asstated in the grant's objectives.

DESCRIPTIVE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Recruits students and tutors, with emphasis on minorities.

Makes presentations about the literacy program to a variety of community groups.

Organizes methods of providing child care and transportation for students as necessary.

Canvasses community for appropriate tutoring places.

Orders and maintains inventory of student workbooks and teacher manuals, print and nonprintliteracy materials for the library's circulating collection, and reading materials for newadult readers.

Assists at basic literacy, ESOL and other training workshops.

Helps provide in-service training to tutors.

Maintains complete records of activities and prepares reports and statistical information asrequired.

Serves as liaison between the library staff and the literacy council.

Performs other duties as maybe required.

-

SPECIAL QUALIFICATIONS:

Able to work cooperatively with the library staff, the tutor coordinator, the literacy councilstaff and other literacy providers. Sensitive to problems of disadvantaged and/or undereducat..adults.

DURATION OF JOB:

One year, beginning October 1, 1988.

WORK HOURS:

40 hours per week; flexible.

SALARY:

$13,284

EDUCATION It OR EXPERIENCE: SKILL REQUIREMENTS:

College degree preferred with experience Good organizational and communication skills.in adult basic education, public Completion of Laubach tutor workshop.relations or social services. Fluency in Spanish helpful.

REAUDIT CERMCATION

DATEDATE

SLIPZRVISOR

CLASS.FICTI

SIDE PANEL FOR MILK CARTON SEPTEMBER, 1989

1 Out Of 5Americans Can'tEscape The Fear

of Illiteracy.27 million American adults are functionally

illiterate. Thousands right in your own communitycan't even fill out a job application.

Pass the WordVolunteer as a Literacy Tutor and

Support a Growing ProgramNational Contact Hotline

1-800-228-8813 411

Laubach Literacy Action 41 11Ce INK

U.S. Program of Laubach Literacy International1320 Jamesville Avenue, Box 131, Syracuse, NY 13210In cooperation with Project Literacy U.S.PLUSand the National Coalition for Literacy.

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